Certificate ceremoney for UNICEF Youth Mediactivist Volunteers for WASH

"Volunteerism is the noble commitment to humanity," commented one of the Youth Mediactivists when asked why he volunteered to pack 6000 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) packets for UNICEF's WASH program.

UNICEF Youth Mediactivists for WASH with Isabelle Austin, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Pacific
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Choi

"Welcome to the Heroic Delegation of Tuvalu"

On the 20th of September, the delegation from Tuvalu submitted to a formal review of their initial report on how Tuvalu was implementing the provisions of the Conventions of the Rights of the Child (CRC). The review was conducted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva, Switzerland via videolink from UNICEF Pacific's head office in Suva, Fiji.

Tuvalu's first CRC review via Videolink from UNICEF Pacific's head office in Suva, Fiji
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Choi

Cyber Bullying: Behind the Screens

Cyber bullying is a new form of an old problem. Today, as many young people have access to mobile phones and the internet, bullying no longer happens face to face - it happens online, behind the screens, but with real life consequences. 

Read about the shocking realities of cyber bullying, happening right now in Fiji, brought to you by Talei, 14, a UNICEF Youth Mediactivist writing for September's issue of Mailife Magazine.

click on the image to view full article

Luxury latrines, VIP latrines and an active volcano

By Karen Allen, UNICEF Pacific Representative

My family did a lot of camping in East Africa when my kids were young… camping with no facilities except what we did for ourselves. This included giving a spade to our kids and telling them to dig, relieve themselves, then cover it up – the no latrine option. On one trip to watch rally car teams race around off-track, fundraising for rhino preservation, my ten year old daughter was fascinated to observe different camping arrangements. She came back to our camp site and complained, “Why can’t we do luxury camping?” “What is that?” I asked, genuinely puzzled what she could have seen amongst a bunch of rally car drivers and fans in the Kenya outback. “A latrine with canvas walls and a pot to sit on,” came the answer. She defined luxury in terms other people would find basic.

Mother of all challenges: Clean water on top of Tanna's steep volcanic mountains

By Karen Allen, UNICEF Pacific Representative

Side by side pumps in action
© UNICEF Pacific/2013/Allen

I have seen a lot of challenges during my 35 year career in Africa and Asia…but this was a new one for me: how to bring clean water to communities that live on top of steep volcanic mountains, in extremely dense, humid vegetation, but with near constant spewing of volcanic ash from an active volcano.